Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers: Reducing barriers to competitive funding opportunities

For many communities, the grant process can be difficult to navigate.i Determining funding sources, wading through highly technical language and processes, and knowing how to write a competitive application are all significant barriers that perpetuate existing injustices and prevent funding from reaching communities where it could have the greatest impact.

To address this barrier, the EPA and Department of Energy have collaborated to fund 17 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACS), with each center receiving at least $10 million. Announced in the Spring of 2023, the recipients include higher education institutions, like Wichita State University and the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico-Metro Campus, and nonprofit organizations, like the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and the National Wildlife Federation.ii

EJ TCTACS across the country have committed to providing services, such as assisting with grant identification and writing, educating about local climate risks, and facilitating engagement with key organizations and decision-makers. Many of these efforts will focus on small, rural, and remote communities that have not traditionally been engaged and lack the capacity to tackle climate issues. 

Endnotes

• iXimena Bustillo, "Rural communities want to tap federal funding. But it's hard to know where to start," https://www.npr.org/2023/03/08/1161284053/biden-rural-funding.
• iiSee the Environmental Protection Agency, "The Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers Program," https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-thriving-communities-technical-assistance-centers.